AJAX MINE: Small mine located in south central Nevada in the Royston area. Relatively new. Yields stones fromm light blue with darker blue veins to a predominate dark green with light blue areas.
BISBEE MINE: Near Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee turquoise was one of the first put onto the market. The turquoise mine is part of the Bisbee copper mine, the main operation of the site. Yields a high blue stone with lots of black matrix. Most of this turquoise has already been mined and it is one of the most highly collectible stones.
BLUE DIAMOND MINE: Located south of Austin, Nevada. Produces very hard, light to deep blue turquoise with a swirl pattern of light and dark blues. Brown to black matrix. The mine is located at a very high altitude and cannot be mined in the winter months due to extreme cold and snow.
BLUE GEM MINE; Near Battle Mountain, Nevada. Produced a great variety of turquoise from intense blues to deep green combinations with a hard, irregularly distributed matrix. The Battle Mountain Blue Gem mine began production in 1934 and is now closed. Greatly desired by collectors.
BLUE RIDGE MINE: Located in northern Nevada on the Blue Ridge in Crescent Valley. Discovered and developed by Orval Jack. Mr Jack is now deceased but his daughter continues to manage the mine. The color is a rare yellow-green color caused by the zinc content. Very collectible as there is only a very small amount being produced. The turquoise is called Orvil Jack turquoise.
CANDELARIA MINE: This is a small Nevada mine which produces very little and is only occasionally worked. This hard stone turquoise has a high blue color with intermittent brown or black non-webbed matrix. Collectible due to its rarity.
CARICO LAKE MINE: Named after its location on a dried up lake bed in Lander County, Nevada. Its green color is due to its zinc content. Highly unique and collectible. Carico Lake turquoise is also found in a dark blue-green color with black, spider web matrix. Occasionally, the mining company leases the turquoise producing part of the mine to individual miners who are permitted to work that part.
CARLIN MINE: Located in the very rough mountainous country north of Carlin, Nevada. Produced very hard stones of a distinctive blue-green color in a very hard black chert matrix. Some of the turquoise mined was of such an intense blue color it was hard to believe it was real. Not operated for many years.
CASTLE DOME MINE: Located in Nevada. Turquoise from this mine is a by-product of a large copper-mining operation. Formerly, the miners picked up what turquoise they encountered and sold it. Now, the turquoise is recovered by a person who pays the copper company for the turquoise. Only a very small quantity is of high quality. The rest, probably 90%, is used for treating.
CERRILLOS MINE: Located ten miles south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Cerrillos mine is the oldest mine of any kind in North America. It has the only turquoise that formed at the base of a volcano. It was the site of the largest prehistoric mining activity on the continent because of the huge turquoise deposit that was partially exposed at the surface. Many pieces of Cerrillos turquoise have been unearthed in the prehistoric ruins of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon. The Pueblo peoples continued to extract turquoise from this mine until the 1870s during the silver mining boom. The Tiffany Company of New York bought up the mine area and extracted $2,000,000 worth of turquoise between 1892 and 1899. Because of its volcanic origins, a variety of colors developed from the minerals in the various volcanic host stones. Seventy-five colors have been identified. Cerrillos is a very hard stone and takes a brilliant polish.
CRIPPLE CREEK MINE: Teller County, Colorado has a number of small gold mines with turquoise found as the by-product of gold mining. Colors are greenish and light to dark blue with brown matrix.
CROW SPRINGS MINE: Also know an Anjax or Bluebird. Located near Tonopah, Nevada. Discovered about 1909 and worked at intervals ever since. Not a large producer. The stone colors range from pale to dark in both green and blue. Some have an interesting coppery matrix.
DAMELE MINE: Also known as Damali. Located in east central Nevada near the Carico Lake mine. Damele turquoise is distinctive because of the zinc content that turns the stone yellow-green and increases its hardness. The matrix is webbed dark brown to black. Availability is limited due to the small size of the mine. Because of its rare color, Damele is a collectible turquoise.
DARLING DARLENE MINE: Located in Nevada. Discovered in 1972 by Joe Barredo and named for his daughter. The turquoise occurs in seams and nuggets in colors from light to deep blue and a deep blue green. It is a small two-man operation and can be worked only in the summer months, so the production is very limited.
DRY CREEK MINE: Also known as the Godber and Burnham mine. Located in northeast Nevada. Produces unusual white to light blue turquoise that is very hard due to a more aluminum in its chemistry. The matrix is light golden or brown-gray to gray-black.
EASTER BLUE MINE: Located northwest of Tonopah, Nevada. Discovered in 1907. Not a large producer. The first turquoise found here was an easter blue color. the turquoise produced recently is similar to that found in the nearby Royston Mine. Some of the stones show a very attractive large mottled spider web with light blue centers in the webbing. Many of the stones are deep blue-green, usually with a light to dark brown matrix.
ENCHANTMENT MINE: Located near the town of Ruidosa in the Sacramento Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. Discovered by a goldminer in 1996 and named the Lost Mine of Enchantment. First new mine discovered in New Mexico since the 1500s. The stones are very high quality and range in color from deep green with tan or golden brown matrix to deep, rich blue. The green is influenced by the iron content in the stone and the blue by the copper content.
FOX MINE: Located near Cortez, Nevada. Discovered about 1910-1912. Active since 1915 as one of the greatest turquoise producers of Nevada. It has been operated for many years by Mr Bowell Ward. Turquoise from the White Horse Mine nearby is sometimes sold as fox. Medium blue to deep blue stones with golden brown to black matrix. Still in production today.
HACHITA MINES: Located near Hachita, New Mexico. A group of very old mines comprising the Cameo, Azure, Galilee and Aztec Mines. Turquoise was mined here in prehistoric times. The color of the stones is predominantly green. The matrix is light to dark brown with very little black.
KINGMAN MINE: Located in northwestern Arizona. Was one of the largest mines in North America. Produced bright blue nuggets with black matrix.
